An arts project which has been helping troubled teenagers in Coventry for eight years will close in two weeks after having its funding cut.

Staff at the Venue Arts Project, in Lockhurst Lane, Foleshill, give one-to-one help to youngsters who have been excluded or are near exclusion from school.

The aim is to raise their social skills and confidence so they can get back to education.

The centre - which started as an advice service for young people in 1995 - was given three years of cash by the government through the Neighbourhood Support Fund and has helped nearly 100 young people find their feet.

But funding for the service has not been renewed and the 35 or so teenagers who attend the centre twice a week instead of school will have to be found alternative educational services from May 16.

Project manager Nik Paddison said the close of the project would mark the end of an era.

He added: "We are all sad and depressed to see this happen. The project plays an integral part in all our lives.

"We've built up a relationship with social services, schools, behaviour support services and youth offending teams.

"It's a lot less formal than social services or schools and we have a strong insight into the young people."

Staff are also very concerned about the future of the Jigsaw Project, a group for children and teenagers of refugees and asylum seekers which meets at the centre once a week.

The group gives the children, aged between nine and 17, a chance to make friends and meet others in a similar situation.